


Day 7 - Isolation

by broken_fannibal



Series: Whumptober 2019 [4]
Category: Broadchurch
Genre: (cause solitary confinement counts as torture), Aftermath, Aftermath of Torture, Alec Hardy Whump, Angst, Caretaking, Gen, Gentleness, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Isolation, Male-Female Friendship, Self-Harming Alec Hardy, Solitary Confinement, Touch-Starved, Whump, Whumptober, Whumptober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2020-11-28 16:30:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20969600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/broken_fannibal/pseuds/broken_fannibal
Summary: Alec had been kept in solitary confinement for nearly two weeks.After they've rescued him, Ellie discovers just how much damage it did.





	Day 7 - Isolation

**Author's Note:**

> Alec is kinda touch-starved in this. cause I love that a lot.  
generally this is very self-indulgent.

Ellie sat by his bedside. She couldn't help it. She just couldn't leave him alone. Not after everything that had happened.

He had been alone in that damp, dark cell when she had found him. Only a thin blanket to cover him, too small for him even. Even curled up as he had been, his naked feet had peeked out from under it.

She wondered how long he had been there. The entire time he had been missing? He must have gotten food and water. Nearly two weeks without it and he wouldn't be alive now...

He sighed and shifted. One of his arms slipped out from under the blanket.

The small movement caught her eye.

As she reached out to push it back under the cover, she saw dark spots under his sleeve. She pushed the sleeve up a little to get a better look at them, to figure out what they were.

They were bruises.. some still dark purple, some already green.

Why were there bruises on his wrist? What could have caused them? He hadn't been tied up in any way. The pattern was strange, too uneven and scattered for shackles or rope.

Ellie turned his arm in her hand. And that was when she noticed it. Her thumb fit over one of the bruises. She lifted it and checked again. It fit perfectly. She inspected the other bruises. They all looked like they had been caused by fingers. She tried to get her hand to match the pattern of the bruises but it just wouldn't work. The angle was wrong. The only way this worked was... if he had inflicted these bruises himself.

But why would he do that?

Or had he been forced to? A shiver ran down her spine at the thought.

She pushed his sleeve up further to see how far they went. But there were no more bruises. What she discovered instead was much worse.

His arm was littered with shallow cuts or scratches. None of them had healed. It looked like he had scratched them open over and over again.

With a heavy heart, she pulled his sleeve down and pushed his arm back under the blanket. Her hand remained on his over the blanket for a few moments. She looked up at his face. It was still pale, still dirty. But at least he looked a little peaceful.

She sighed and stifled a yawn. Only now did she realise how tired she was.

Ellie looked over to the couch. It wasn't that far away from the bed. And she was a light sleeper, so she would definitely wake up if something happened. With one last look at Alec, she went to lie down on the couch.

When Alec stirred the next morning, she had already been up for a while. She had taken a shower, made some tea and looked for a balm for the scratches on his arm. Or arms. She hadn't actually checked the other one. She’d have to do that once he’d woken up.

Now, when she heard the rustle of the blanket and his groan as he stretched, she poured him a cup of tea and went over to the bed.

He stilled immediately as she sat down next to him. He looked at her, face near unreadable. Then his eyes widened and his gaze became distant.

“Alec?”

He blinked, trying to tear himself away from the memories. He abruptly sat up and rubbed over his eyes. When he lowered his hands, he stared at the blanket for a while. Then- ever so slowly- he turned to look at her.

Ellie watched him, her head tilted in worry. She couldn't figure out what went on in his head. “I made us some tea.” She held the second cup out to him.

He nodded and took it. He smelled it.

“It's herbal tea.”

Without a sign that he had acknowledged or even heard her, he took a sip. And then another. He shifted a little on the bed.

Trying to find a more comfortable position, she guessed.

After she had brought him the second cup and set it down on the bedside table, she asked: “Why did you hurt yourself?”

He frowned at her. “What?”

Slowly, Ellie reached out and pulled one of his sleeves up. “At first I just saw the bruises. But then-” she pulled it up further, “-I found these.” She gently held onto his arm and looked into his eyes. He stared down at the scratches. Contemplating. He reached out and started picking at the scab on one of them.

She slapped his hand away. “Stop it!”

Alec looked away.

“Why did you do that?”

He just shrugged. “I don't know. I was alone in there for a long time.”

Her heart sank. “But there’s no need to do that anymore, right?” When he didn't react she asked again: “Right, Alec?”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said distractedly.

But she could see him starting to pick at the skin of his thumb.

“Alec, if you want to talk-”

“There's nothing to talk about!” he said harshly.

She jerked back. She hadn't expected this kind of sudden outburst. “Okay.” she nodded. “It's alright if you don't want to talk about what happened. But I want you to know that you're not alone. I’m here.”

He still wouldn't look at her but some of the tension in his shoulders faded.

She sighed. “Come on, give me your arm.”

Now he looked at her.

She held up the balm for him to see. “To make them heal faster.” She reached for his arm and smoothed over a bigger scratch. “This one will probably leave a scar.”

Alec shrugged.

“Are you just going to be quiet now?” she asked.

“There's nothing to say.”

Ellie stilled. And she took in his posture. Back hunched, eyes staring down at the blanket, his arm complacent in her hand, the other motionless on the blanket. His beard had grown out, his hair was dishevelled. There were dark circles under his eyes.

He looked at his arm, trying to figure out why she had stopped when she clearly wasn't done yet. Then he looked at her face, saw that she was watching him.

She saw a frown appearing on his face. But he didn't say anything. Just kept looking at her as if that would somehow give him the answer.

She sighed and focused on the scratches on his arm again. When she was done she gently set his arm down on the blanket. “Now give me the other one.”

He hesitated for a split second, she wrote it off as Alec just being Alec at first.

But then she pulled up the sleeve.

“Jesus Christ, Alec!” She stared at him in horror.

He didn't say anything. Just shrugged with one shoulder.

Very carefully, she pulled the sleeve up all the way to his elbow. The scratches on his other arm were _nothing_ compared to this. There were even more bruises, deeper, bigger ones. Just like the scratches- hell you couldn't even call them scratches anymore. She didn't want to know what he had used to inflict these wounds. At least they weren't infected. But there was dust in some of them. She got up and went to the bathroom.

Alec frowned. What was she doing?

He heard running water and a minute later, she came back with another balm and a wet cloth.

Ellie sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled his arm towards her again, probably a little rougher than necessary. She set it down on her thigh and started by cleaning his hand, his wrist and then tried her best to clean around the wounds. After she was done, she looked up at him again.

Alec tensed when she slid one hand to the side of his neck and began wiping over his face.

His skin began to tingle where her hand touched his neck. And as if that wasn't enough, she put the cloth away for a moment to wipe over his cheek with her thumb. A frown formed on her face and she scratched at his cheek.

Torn from his trance, he pushed her hand away. “What are you doing? Stop it.”

“I‘m trying to figure out if it's a scratch or dirt.”

He rolled his eyes. “And?”

“Not sure.” She picked up the cloth again and wiped over his forehead.

Suddenly, he winced and jerked back.

“What is it?” she asked, alarmed.

He took a sharp breath and reached up to inspect what had caused the spike of pain. He felt a small bump near his hairline. His hand came back with a little blood on it.

Ellie brushed his hair back and searched for the wound. She quickly found it. It was a small cut, nothing serious. She wiped away the small trickle of blood running down his forehead with her thumb. “It's just a small cut.”

Alec hummed distractedly. He could still feel the phantom touch where she had wiped over his forehead.

She leaned back and looked at his arm again, dread settled in her stomach. Ellie closed her eyes for a moment and exhaled shakily.

Alec felt a pang of pain in his chest. He shouldn't make her take care of him. It wasn't right.

He reached for the balm and unscrewed the cap. He winced as he got too close to one of the wounds. With gritted teeth, he continued.

Ellie quietly watched him.

After a few minutes, something caught her eye- there was blood running down his forehead again, it stopped at his eyebrow. She reached out to wipe it away.

Just before she could touch him, he reared back.

“You're bleeding again.”

He blinked. “Oh.”

“I'll get a band-aid.”

He hummed.

She went to wash the cloth and then came back with a small box.

Alec pushed his hair back and waited.

“Thanks.” She gave a small smile. She wiped the trail of blood away and picked a band-aid.

Before he could continue she picked up the balm and began applying it around the wounds.

“You don't have to-” he started.

“I don't mind,” she said softly.

He hesitated for a moment. Then he nodded.

When she was done, she looked at him again. “There you go.”

“Thanks,” he said quietly.

Ellie’s eyes widened a little. “Alec Hardy thanking me! That's something you don't hear every day!”

He huffed and rolled his eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed it please consider leaving kudos/comments! <3


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